Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
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Meeting Between Burhan, Hemedi Expected to Lead to Sudan Ceasefire

Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)
Army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. (AFP)

Sudanese army commander General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Daglo, commander of Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are expected to meet in the coming days in a regional capital, according to sources.

Addressing officers at a military base in the Red Sea, Burhan announced Thursday that he had agreed to engage in negotiations to resolve Sudan’s monthslong conflict.

He expressed readiness to negotiate with the “militia” - a reference to the RSF. He added that he rejects any peace deal that humiliates the armed forces and Sudanese people.

Moreover, Burhan stressed that his forces would remain united and strong.

He further pledged to hold accountable the “cancer of the RSF” and every accomplice that led to the RSF’s capture of Wad Madani.

Several reports, including a one by Asharq TV, said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Al-Sadiq handed a written letter to the Prime Minister of Djibouti and the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) that Burhan is willing to meet Hemedti under certain conditions.

IGAD had suggested a meeting between the two generals, but Burhan refused.

On December 9, IGAD held a summit during which it was announced that the two men would meet to sign a ceasefire agreement and return to dialogue.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared that tireless efforts have led to the agreement over the meeting.

On the ground, clashes between the army and RSF erupted on Saturday in the southern villages of the Gezira state, central Sudan.

The Arab World Press quoted eyewitnesses as saying that army warplanes raided the RSF to prevent their progress in Sennar.

They added that the displacement continues from Wad Madani and the villages of Gezira state to the states of Sennar in the southeast and Gedaref, Kassala, and Port Sudan, in the east of the country.



Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
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Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthi militias on Thursday that they “will pay a heavy price” after Israel launched strikes in Yemen in response to a missile attack from the armed group.

The Iran-backed Houthis - who have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war with Hamas - said they had attacked Tel Aviv overnight, launching two ballistic missiles and hitting "precise military targets.”

As Israeli jets were in the air, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile headed towards central Israel which destroyed a school building in Ramat Efal in the western part of Tel Aviv with what a military spokesperson described as falling shrapnel.
“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are nearly the last remaining arm of Iran's axis of evil. They are learning and they will learn the hard way, that whoever harms Israel - pays a very heavy price for it,” Netanyahu warned.
Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah are also allies of Iran.
The Israeli attack in Yemen, involving 14 fighter jets and other aircraft, came in two waves, with a first series of strikes on the ports of Salif and Ras Issa and a second series hitting the capital Sanaa, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
"We made extensive preparations for these operations with efforts to refine our intelligence and to optimize the strikes," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel’s “long hand” will reach the Houthi leaders.